the new affirmation.) Then you write, “It is OK for me to have strong emo-
tions” twice more in the first person, each time with a response and a new
affirmation to change the response. Allow your mind to produce responses
spontaneously without censorship. Doing so you will result in different re-
sponses each time.
Now write your affirmation in the second person, using your name:
“George, it is OK for you to have strong emotions.” Do this three times,
each time recording your response and composing a new affirmation as
you did before.
Then write your affirmation in the third person, using your name: “It is
OK for George to have strong emotions.” Also do this three times, each
time recording your response and composing your new affirmation as you
did before.
The final step is to write your affirmation, “It is OK for me to have
strong emotions,” once in the first person with no response.
Three times in each of three persons plus the final one in the first per-
son equals a set of 10. With a little practice, you’ll complete a set of 10 in
about 15 minutes.Using all three persons (I/me; you; he/him/she/her) enables
you to deal with all the objections your mind has on a subject,
whether these ideas are ones that: you thought up yourself (first
person); other people told you (second person); or other people
said about you (third person).
You may have thought up the objections in your mind on your
own. When I (PL) was a child, my mother had a lot of faith in doc-
tors. If I complained about not feeling well, she immediately took
me to the doctor. After a few such trips, I noticed that the doctor al-
ways did something unpleasant to me, so I concluded on my own
that “Doctors hurt me” and learned to avoid complaining about ill-
ness. As an adult, I realized that my compulsive avoidance of doc-
tors did not serve optimum health and used affirmations to dissolve
this thinking. This was a conclusion that I made on my own, and so
it was in my mind in the first person, “Doctors hurt me.”
It is possible that ideas got into your mind in the second person.
If your parents told you regularly, “You are an excellent student. I
am glad that you are so smart” or “What’s wrong with you? How can
you be so stupid?” this information entered your mind in the sec-
ond person.
Third-person sources require a bit more explanation. Observe
the behavior of two or more adults in the presence of an infant. In
almost every case, the infant is the topic of conversation. The adults166 Mental Flexibility for Peak Performance